Love Your Enemies

A Sermon by the Rev. Peter M. Buss, Jr.

In this sermon we will focus on a challenging section of the Bible. The words
themselves are easy enough to understand, but the meaning--what the Lord is
asking us to do, can easily elude us. We read from the Sermon on the Mount:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps
you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." (Matthew 5:38-39)

We can guess at the intended message: that the Lord wants us
to respond to evil with something other than revenge or anger, but beyond that
questions arise. Are we really meant to let evil run its course? Do we have
to put up with the abuse other people inflict upon us? Fortunately, answers
have been given. The Writings for the New Church come to our rescue and explain
that we do not need to take these words too literally. There is an important
message contained within, which teaches us a great deal about how to respond
to injustice when we are the victims.

David and Saul

To begin thinking about the meaning we turn to the story of
David and Saul (see 1 Samuel 26:5-12). Saul was deeply jealous of David's
success--so much so that he wanted to kill him. Twice during David's extended
flight from Saul, he had the opportunity to kill Saul. We read about how David
and Abishai came into the middle of Saul's camp one night and stood over Saul
while he and the whole camp slept. Abishai, ever willing to please, asked David
if he could take Saul's spear by his head, and thrust it through him, for as
he said, "God has delivered your enemy into your hand" (1 Samuel 26:8).
But David would not let him, saying, "who can stretch out his and against the
Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:9).

David had the motive, the opportunity, and even the justification
(by most people's standards), to kill Saul. But he didn't, because the Lord
forbade it. He refused to repay evil with evil. Although he may have acted out
of simple obedience (he may have wantedto kill Saul even
though he didn't), we can admire his steadfast character--especially in the
context of a nation whose rule was: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (see Exodus 21:23-25;
Leviticus 24:17-20).

Looking within

In the New Testament we hear the Lord asking people to go
the next step. Instead of just resisting revenge, He asks us not to resist evil.
We are to love our enemies--to turn the other cheek. The interior message
is that we need to master more than our actions and speech--we also need to
notice the emotions and feelings, our thoughts, intentions and attitudes which
cause us to act in certain ways. These are things of the internal realm, within
our minds. In His request to "turn the other cheek" we are invited by the Lord
to reflect on our reactions to evil when we see it--when we are the victims.
Do we clench with anger and coil up, repay wrong for wrong? Or do we have the
courage to resist that primal urge and hear the Lord asking us to be merciful
instead of vengeful?

The urge to seek revenge

Like it or not, we are the center of our own universe. Although
this does refer to our love of self, a love which the Lord wants us to work
on, the main reason for bringing it up is that it speaks to our perspective
in general. We know our own thoughts and intentions; we do not necessarily know
those of other people. We feel the pain when someone says or does something
cruel to us; we don't automatically perceive what's going on in the other person's
mind. Because of this self-centered view, we have an natural and automatic surge
of defensiveness when attacked. It takes an effort of will to rise above such
an inclination to think about the thoughts and feelings of someone else.

Let me offer a couple of examples to give a context in which
to think about this principle of overcoming our native perspective. If someone
short-changes us at the checkout, it's easy to assume that person is incompetent.
It takes more effort to reflect that the person may just have made a mistake.
If someone lies to us knowingly, it's easy to insinuate all kinds of negative
things about that person's spiritual character--maybe even say a few of them.
It's harder to open ourselves up to think about the reasons the person lied,
and how best to deal with the situation. If someone insensitively yells at us
for something we didn't do, our natural tendency is to yell back--to make sure
he or she knows of the injustice. It takes more courage to explain the error
calmly, and to hold no ill will towards the person. The list could go one and
on. These things happen all the time.

Therefore we need the Lord's words of encouragement, reminding
us to rise above our instinctive desire to repay injustice, and instead be moved
to think about what's going on in other people's minds as we experience our
own thoughts and emotions.

"Turn the other cheek”

The Lord knows He's asking a lot of us in this regard. It is
difficult to counter cruelty with mercy. He explains this by means of the very
words He chose during His Sermon on the Mount. The things He asks there intentionally
go against our common sense-- beyond what we would reasonably expect the Lord
to ask of us. Think about what it means to "turn the other cheek." A person
slaps you in the face. Such an act is an affront to our selfhood. It is a way
of cutting someone to the core--of provoking us to almost certain anger. Yet
the Lord says in effect, "Let him slap you again."

The rest of the requests are equally as alarming if we think
about actually doing what the Lord says. If someone wants your clothes, He asks
you to give them up. If someone needs to borrow money, He asks you to lend without
expecting repayment. He commands us all to give any of our possessions to anyone
who asks. The reason for this imagery is to make us aware that it is not easy
to overcome our desire for revenge. It is not something we would tend to do,
if left to ourselves.

There is a deeper reason, of course. It comes by means of the
internal sense or the meaning which is contained in each of the words and images.
A passage from the Writings for the New Church explains:

Who can fail to see that these words should not be taken literally?
Who is going to turn his left cheek to one who has smacked him on the right
cheek? Who is going to give his cloak to one who wishes to take away his tunic?
Who is going to give what he has to all who ask for it? And who will not resist
evil? But these words cannot be understood by anyone who does not know that
the right cheek and the left, tunic and cloak, a mile, a loan, and all the rest
are being used to mean. The subject in these verses is spiritual life or the
life of faith, not natural life, which is the life of the world. (Arcana
Caelestia 9049:5; cf. Apocalypse Explained 556:8)

Spiritual life is the key. Again the Lord is asking us to focus
on what's going on in our minds- our intentions, affections, thoughts, attitudes.
When someone insults us what happens to our spiritual life? What causes us to
react in a merciful or vengeful way? This is what comes out by means of the
internal sense.

Spiritual associations

A major idea is contained within the Lord's introduction
to His message: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth'" (Matthew 5:38). This again is the law of retaliation. It
is the exact opposite of the Golden Rule which the Lord spoke of later in the
same address: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them"
(Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). The truth contained within is that
one is the law of heaven, while the other is the law of hell. In heaven, people
are motivated by mutual love, or charity--they do to others as they want others
to do to them (see Apocalypse Revealed 762).

But devils in hell place themselves first, desiring to abuse
and manipulate those around them. When it doesn't work they commit acts of violence
and cruelty. But the law of retaliation takes effect, and whatever they do to
others comes crashing back on them in the form of punishments (Ibid.).
By such means the Lord maintains some semblance of order in the hells.

The power of such a teaching is that it opens up a reality never
before known. In the lessons we read about our spiritual associations (see
Arcana Caelestia 4067). We are in the presence of spirits and angels
right now. The spiritual world, the realm of the afterlife, is full of people
who once lived on earth. The Lord uses them to lead us. Every single thing we
think and feel is caused by our association with certain spirits. We are present
with spirits who like to think and feel the same way we do, even though we are
entirely unaware of it.

The passage gave some examples. A covetous person is in association
with covetous spirits; a person who loves himself pre-eminently is with those
who share this self-pride; one who takes delight in revenge (an emotion particularly
appropriate in this context) is among spirits who feed that desire. It also
mentions that people who avoid such vices are in association with angels in
heaven, and are thereby led by the Lord Himself.

With this backdrop we can think again about our response to
evil or insensitivity. When we react with anger or vengeance it is never
from the Lord. When we repay anger with anger, violence with violence, then
we are acting under the law of retaliation--the law that governs hell. The result
is that we are in association with devils in hell, and as the passage from
Arcana Caelestia explains:

[We are] utterly under their control, so much so that [we are]
not under [our] own jurisdiction but under theirs, [even though we imagine]
from the delight [we experience], and so from the freedom [we have], that [we
are] in control of [ourselves]." (Arcana Caelestia 4067)

Only when we reflect on the fact that there's more going on
than our own emotions and thoughts, that someone else is involved, that there
may be reasons for his or her actions--then we open ourselves up to charity,
to thoughts about how we would want to be treated if the roles were reversed;
then we are in association with angels of heaven and we are led by the Lord.

This is an amazing new truth which gives us a totally new way
of approaching our dealings with other people. Our goal is to be led by the
Lord and His angels, rather than to fall into the traps of hell.

Specific requests

With this backdrop of our connection with the spiritual world,
we can look at a few of the phrases of the Lord's words, and see
clearly what the Lord is asking us to do:

(1) "Do not resist an evil person", He says.

What He means is "Don't repay evil with evil." Why? Because
it will never help. All it does is bring us into association with the hells.
Their desire is to hurt us and control us. If we respond to their impulses we
suffer. We can think of anger as an example. It is a powerful emotion. We may derive some delusional
pleasure from "letting someone have it," but more often than not we end up feeling
remorseful and guilty. It doesn't lead anywhere good.

(2) “Turn the other cheek”

Our goal, then, is to avoid such consequences. The first
way to do so is "to turn the other cheek." A "cheek" represents an interior
understanding of the truth (see Apocalypse Explained 556:9; cf. Arcana
Caelestia 9049:6). When we truly understand the Lord's request to resist
vengeful motions, we will see that He is asking us to respond from a charitable
perspective. "Striking the cheek" represents a desire to destroy (Ibid.).
When someone steals from us, or is cruel, the Lord asks us not to strike
back--not to desire to destroy. Instead our goal is to respond from that interior
under -standing which is "the other cheek"-from an interior affection of love
towards the neighbor. Such is the meaning of His words which follow: "love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray
for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:43).

In this we see a tremendous challenge--to overcome that instinctive
reaction and to act from a higher motive instead; to take influx from heaven
rather than hell; to think about the other person--the one who is abusing us--from
respect, as a person; to ask ourselves how the Lord would want us to respond.
Once we've considered these things then we can react. It may be with zeal, or
with a desire to clarify the cause for the confrontation, or with a decision
to remove ourselves from the situation. What-ever our response actually is,
it must be from charity, and so from heaven.

(3)"If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic,
let him have your cloak also"

Again the Lord knows that is hard. It is our goal, but we
may not always succeed. So the Lord offers a starting point in the next sentence:
"If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak
also" (Matthew 5:40). A "cloak" represents an external understanding
of the truth, as opposed to the internal understanding represented by a "cheek"
(see A.E.556:9; Arcana Caelestia 9049:6). What the Lord asks here
is that we obey, even if we don't feel like it. If we can't bring ourselves
to respond to our "adversary" from a genuinely charitable attitude, then obedience
is a place to begin. We may want to respond with anger or revenge, but the Lord
asks us not to. It might be useful to think again of David and Saul. David had
the opportunity to kill Saul, his enemy, but he did not, because the Lord forbade
it.

(4) "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him
two"

Still, such external obedience should not be our home-base.
It is just a starting point. The Lord wants us to work towards the goal of genuine
mercy and forgiveness. He says so in the last phrase we'll look at today: "And
whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two" (Matthew 5:41).
Going the extra mile represents our willingness to work towards the goal of
charity. The more we resist our urge to repay wrong for wrong, the more the
Lord will lead us towards control to such a degree that we feel nothing but
affection for those in disorder.

This doesn't mean we have to feel happy for them. But it does
mean we feel concern, and respond with the idea of helping the situation rather
than making it worse. If we do so, then we are on the road to experiencing love
towards the neighbor as the angels of heaven do.

In Conclusion

The Lord asks us not to resist evil. In the internal sense
He explains that evil has it's own punishment (see Apocalypse Revealed
762). He asks that we avoid being affected by someone else's wrongdoing
to such a degree that we drop to their level of operation. All it does is cause
us to receive influx from hell.

Instead He says, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate
you" (Matthew 5:44). The overriding rule is to do to others as we would
have them do to us. If we heed this rule and hold it up as our goal, then we
will be "sons of the Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:45). In other words,
the Lord will be leading us. He will protect us from harm, and evil will not
have its intended effect on us. We won't respond with anger or vengeance because
the source of our response will be heaven rather than hell. As the passage from
Arcana Caelestia says:

As [we allow ourselves] to be led to good which is more interior
and more perfect, so [we are] conveyed [by the Lord] to more interior and more
perfect angelic societies. (AC4067)

Into these societies we will come after death, if we make mutual
love or charitable regard for others, our rule of life.